Why Does the Whole Bay Area Smell Like Burning Plastic?

As soon as you left your home this morning to embark on your commute, you were probably hit with a foul burnt plastic smell. Turns out this happened to pretty much everyone else.

The mysterious odor sent hyper-local blogs like Haighteration and Berkeleyside into investigation mode to figure where it was coming from. And, naturally, Bay Areans took to social media to express this confusion and complaints about the stench, which sent us into a Proustian reverie of our youths, burning G.I. Joes in the backyard with a magnifying glass. (You did that too, right?)

Well the search has ended, and the culprit behind the stench is a scrap metal fire in Redwood City. The metal fire (which for some reason smells like plastic), actually began yesterday at 1:20 p.m. and burned through the night. Why the fire was allowed to burn for more than a couple hours is a question no one seems to have an answer for. The fire, however was put out by 7 a.m.

But the good news is, there aren't any air advisory warnings for anywhere in the Bay Area, so don't let this interrupt your plans to enjoy this nice crisp fall morning. You know, if you're lucky enough to have the day off, that is. Some of us are stuck blogging.